Paulus van Drunen (d. 1538)

Paulus van Drunen (Druynen), a goldsmith and an Anabaptistelder and martyr, was burned at the stake for the sake of his faith with three other Anabaptists, Michiel Stevens of Oosterhout, Jan Blok of Ghent, and Adriaen of The Hague, at Vught near 's Hertogenbosch in the Dutch province of North Brabant on 9 September 1538. They had been muzzled before the execution. Two days later four other members of the congregation at 's Hertogenbosch or Vught, of which Paulus van Drunen was the bishop, were put to death; viz., Neelken (the wife of Paulus van Drunen), Jan van Capel, Lysken (the wife of Jan Blok), and Geertken Erasmusdochter, of Maastricht. The source of van Braght's report in the Martyrs’ Mirror was "an old writing" from Friesland. The Martyrs’ Mirror speaks of 10-17 persons who died as martyrs at Vught at that time. The history has been clarified by Karel Vos in Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1917).

Braght, Thieleman J. van. The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs' Mirror of the Defenseless Christians Who Baptized Only upon Confession of Faith and Who Suffered and Died for the Testimony of Jesus Their Saviour . . . to the Year A.D. 1660. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1951: 447. Available online at: http://www.homecomers.org/mirror/index.htm.